Expand my Community achievements bar.

Latest Community Ideas Review is Out: Discover What’s New and What to Expect!

Can I report on changes to custom fields at the project-level using the Notes object?

Avatar

Level 10
Hello, I've tried to create a Notes report using the "Audit Text" field with a 'contains' condition to show me changes to a project-level custom field, but nothing seems to be pulling through. Is this because it's a custom field? Regards, Jamie Jamie Hill JLL EMEA
Topics

Topics help categorize Community content and increase your ability to discover relevant content.

25 Replies

Avatar

Level 10
Hi Jamie, I am also struggling with this today. I know that, at a minimum, you have to make sure that you've enabled system tracked update feeds on the custom field. Enabling System-Tracked Update Feeds My problem now is that I've enabled this, and can see the updates in the feed of my task (see the "Estimated UoV" in screenshot below). However, I can't seem to figure out how to include this in a report. As a matter of fact, I can't seem to figure out how to include any system updates in a "Notes" report. Does anyone have suggestions? Here's what support first reported back, but this didn't help me much with a report: "If you were to toggle the Filter System Updates, what would you see in the feed? If you don't see any comments, its because the comments are on the system Updates and won't normally report without some configuration. I have included two articles to assist you in that process. "https://support.workfront.com/hc/en-us/articles/216670538-Understanding-System-Tracked-Update-Feeds">Understanding System-Tracked Update Feeds "https://support.workfront.com/hc/en-us/articles/217222387-Enabling-System-Tracked-Update-Feeds">Enabling System-Tracked Update Feeds "

Avatar

Level 10
We have custom fields that we audit (have logging turned on) and they do appear in the Notes report that I have. Do you have any filter criteria in place on the report that could be preventing them from showing up? Our notes report is included on a Monitoring tab for each project that way a PM has it at their fingertips if needed. Admin Kelly-Wehrmann SSFCU

Avatar

Level 10
I have the same issue some time back without resolution. Doug suggested getting the timestamp by update feed so I tried it out. I see the tracked field on the update feed but couldn't find it in my Notes report. I even dumped all Note Text and Audit text into the report to check and nothing. Polly Co

Avatar

Level 10
Hmm strange! I've actually removed all the filters and simply shown all the Audit Texts sorted by most recent first and it still doesn't show. This particular custom field is of type 'Currency' - maybe that has a bearing? Jamie Hill JLL EMEA

Avatar

Level 10
I wonder if this is cluster-specific. We are on Cluster 03. Something isn't adding up though... Here is what I am gathering: - You can track a custom field so that changes are logged as Notes. - You can view the Notes in the "Updates" tab of the Project, Task or Issue (depending on where you're logging) and the Journal Entry Owner, Audit Text, and Entry Date. - You cannot see these changes in a Notes report. A couple of problems I have with this: - If the changes are logged as Notes and they exist in a table, why can't we report them? - Why are the results of my test below so inconsistent? Why are the only changes included in my report "Status" changes on Issues, when I've opted to track Task and Project status changes as well? - Why does this screenshot from another user's report in the community contradict everything above, and indicate that reporting out these updates in Notes reports works in both Project and Task updates? - As a test, I decided to create a project with a single task and a single issue. On each custom form, I've added a field to track in the update feeds. I've also activated the update feed for the Project, Task and Issue. I also ensured that the "system" field "Status" is in the update field on all three objects. Then I created a "Notes" report looking at the project. The results: - Project: o Status Changes DO NOT get reported o Update on Custom Data DOES NOT get reported - Task o Status Changes DO NOT get reported o Update on Custom Data DOES NOT get reported - Issue o Status Changes DO get reported o Update on Custom Data DOES NOT get reported Narayan Raum Delivery Lead/System Administrator Workfront Center of Excellence EDO Data Management Phone: 931.704.3019 LEGAL DISCLAIMER The information transmitted is intended solely for the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. By replying to this e-mail, you consent to SunTrust's monitoring activities of all communication that occurs on SunTrust's systems. SunTrust is a federally registered service mark of SunTrust Banks, Inc. [ST:XCL] ------Original Message------ Hmm strange! I've actually removed all the filters and simply shown all the Audit Texts sorted by most recent first and it still doesn't show. This particular custom field is of type 'Currency' - maybe that has a bearing? Jamie Hill JLL EMEA

Avatar

Level 10
We're on cluster 1, being shifted to cluster 5 soon. Polly Co

Avatar

Level 10
Please, feel free to reference my request that is already open and being worked. If more than one customer reports a problem, we can hope that more eyes will be on it. Support Request #1101580: Note Report Returns Nothing on a Task "https://support.workfront.com/hc/requests/1101580">https://support.workfront.com/hc/requests/1101580 Narayan Raum SunTrust Banks (Data Governance BIO)

Avatar

Level 10
We are on CL02. In doing some further testing today, I found that for Tasks and Issues that none of my Custom Fields that have "logging turned on" appear on my report; however, they should. We were going to be creating an auto-delivered report to report on a particular custom field change on a Task and now we can't since it's not working. I have also opened a ticket with the Help Desk and have referenced your ticket within my ticket. For reference, my Help Desk Ticket is: Request #1101964 Custom Fields With "Logging Turned On" No Longer Display In Notes Report Thanks! Admin Kelly-Wehrmann SSFCU

Avatar

Level 10
I've also reported this and referenced Narayan's support ticket. Our support ticket is #1101999 - for reference. Polly Co

Avatar

Level 10
Polly, Kelly: Thank you for the submissions. Let's hope this gains some more traction now. Thanks, Narayan Narayan Raum Delivery Lead/System Administrator Workfront Center of Excellence SunTrust Bank

Avatar

Level 10
#1 - I have this same problem #2 - Where do I look to see what cluster our system is on? #3 - I will update or add to your problem report, indicating that I have the same issue. Thanks. Benetta Perry APS

Avatar

Level 10
Raised it myself as well :) ticket #1102059 Jamie Hill JLL EMEA

Avatar

Level 10
@Narayan Raum , @Admin Kelly-Wehrmann , @Jamie Hill , I just got a response for my ticket and looks like it's not going anywhere. "I have consulted with our Product Team and should if your you that seeing the updates in a Note type report is qualified a Feature Enhancement Request and if you wish this kind of functionality please feel free to submit this idea in our Idea Exchange." Polly Co

Avatar

Level 10
Yes, I'm escalating this to my CSC in a few mins. Now I'm finding notes from users with actual text that I can see in a Notes report but not in the updates tab of the project. Now I have an audit issue on my hands at the bank. The updates are the result of the audit and are reviewed constantly. GRRRRR Narayan Raum Delivery Lead | Workfront Center of Excellence EDO | Enterprise BI Data Management "http://sites.suntrust.com/sites/EDO/WorkfrontCOE/Pages/default.aspx">Workfront COE SharePoint Site LEGAL DISCLAIMER The information transmitted is intended solely for the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. By replying to this e-mail, you consent to SunTrust's monitoring activities of all communication that occurs on SunTrust's systems. SunTrust is a federally registered service mark of SunTrust Banks, Inc. [ST:XCL]

Avatar

Level 10
I really hate when they pass the buck. @Polly Co can you update your ticket and request that they escalate to someone else....maybe a senior? Admin Kelly-Wehrmann SSFCU

Avatar

Level 10
I've also had a response: Hi Jamie, I did some looking into this today. The system was not designed in a way that it is able to report on all of the custom field information in the update feed. In the future you may be able to report on more of this information. You could build a project report that would allow you to see the information in each of the custom fields, but this will not show when information was changed. Thanks! Brandon Jamie Hill JLL EMEA

Avatar

Level 10
Quite honestly, I think every single "Update" in the update stream, whether it be system-generated or user-generated, is stored in a Notes report. I am also quite confident that it's just the reporting capabilities being restricted/stripped away for some reason. For example: I can run a Notes report on a project and the "Updates" made on documents in the project by users are irretrievable. However, if I create an Issue report and pull in the Resolving Project Last Note, Last Note Date, and Last Note owner, I can see the last note added on a document in the project. Where's the sense in that? For example: I can run a Notes report on one project and see the task-level system updates, which are "Status Changes" on the task. However, I can run the same report looking at another project and the "Status Changes" don't show. I created issues within the project and change the statuses, and those updates show in the report. I changed the status of the project and those do not show. It's so inconsistent that I can't

Avatar

Level 10
... oops... even figure out what I can/can't report on. And to make matters worse, other users have provided screen shots of functioning reports that show the data I'm after. I've got the vendor working on this, and am refusing to let this one go at this point. Will update you all in this thread. Thank you for all of your input. It helps.

Avatar

Level 10
This is the reply from our ASE...I'm not sure when this changed, but maybe this explains some inconsistencies. "colleagues were able to confirm that was old functionality that changed-- there was a setting where one could control what was captured in the note reports, however this is no longer available in the newer version of Workfront. We've submitted inquiries to the product managers and it is on the roadmap, however we do not have a confirmed timeline for when you will see this". Admin Kelly-Wehrmann SSFCU

Avatar

Level 10
Thanks all for the updates. A bit worrying that the functionality was removed and no-one in WF knew! Jamie Hill JLL EMEA